


Frost. Storm. And Fire.

by TCK13



Category: RWBY
Genre: Pre Great War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:47:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21673933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TCK13/pseuds/TCK13
Summary: Global tensions are high as Mantle tightens its noose on self expression and emotion in an effort to counter the Grim. Mistral has already signed on with this treatment of its citizenry and expanded its influence into the Sanus continent with its colony on the coast. War is on the horizon, people will die, and two heroes are caught at the center of a conflict that threatens to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. Can they rise up and discover the secrets that can save humanity? Or will they too, like so many others, be consumed by the brutality of The Great War.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

“They’re coming.”

“I know.”

“What do we do?”

“What can we do? We are out of options. How far are they? 

“5 minutes on foot. Ten through the snow at most.”

“I need more time,” the young woman looked up from her meditation to look at her companion for the first time, “can you delay them?”

The small cabin was dark, illuminated only by the single candle burning on the bare floor and the pre-dawn sunlight crawling through the cracked door. “How long do you need?” the male voice answered, standing in the shadow cast by the door. 

“As long as you can give me 20 minutes at the least.”

Suddenly the room was illuminated by an orange red glow accompanied by a hissing noise as two large circles of the red orange light appeared on the man’s wrists. “Consider it done,” he replied and the light extended, forming two blades the length of his forearm and arm guards of the same material. 

She dropped the bar that secured the old door back into place as she closed her eyes once more. _Breathe in. Breathe out. Just like you’ve been taught. Empty your mind._


	2. Contact

As bright as his arm blades were in the cabin, in the open air the light was barely brighter than the dying moonlight reflecting off the snowy landscape. Their hideout was far into the wilderness of Solitas in a forest yet untouched by the Kingdom of Mantle. Yet still the soldiers had found them, driven by the dogged persistence that only existed a Kingdom devoted to obedience and warfare could inspire. He considered his options carefully. With well over a dozen trained soldiers and likely several elite warriors he would need every advantage to simply survive. But when the soft familiar music began to enter his mind and his very soul a grin appeared on his face. He would not face them alone. 

The first one stood no chance. Mantle soldiers were well trained and well armed but suffered from the problem that plagued even the best men: they don’t look up. Red stained the white snow as he lept from his hiding place among the pine needles and struck down the trailing man in the formation. Mantle squads were organised into two fireteams with one heavy repeating firearm each and the heavy gunners were always the last man in their team. This meant that in almost any formation the trailing man was a heavy gunner. Before any of the fallen soldier’s comrades could react, he lifted the man’s weapon and retracted his own somewhat to better protect him as well as allow him to operate the firearm. The first burst went into the back of the Squad's leader, then the second in command. The third and second man respectively. The remaining soldiers panicked and turned to face him, firing their weapons wildly. He got two more controlled bursts off, taking down two more soldiers, before the rifle bullets started glancing off his bracers and body armor. Dropping the gun, he charged the remaining soldiers and extended his blades just in time to connect with the closest rifleman’s chest. The man died instantly as he brought up his other arm to block another hail of bullets, Mantle military’s training to aim for the head working very much against them as bullets stood little chance of penetrating hardlight barriers. In a blur of red and orange, he lept through the air and lunged toward the next soldier clean over the thick snowdrift on the ground. The soldier was decapitated with a quick slash and the three remaining tried to back away from the man slaughtering them but were slowed by the snow on the ground. The music was starting to fade now, he lifted the headless soldier’s rifle and used it to dispatch two of the others but letting the last one escape to warn the others. The longer he could keep the soldiers hunting him the better. He quickly gathered up anything he could use, enemy reinforcements would be there in less than a minute, and discovered something very useful. Among the fallen was a marksman with a modified Standard Rifle for greater accuracy at range. This gave him an idea.

The next patrol was lead by the survivor the the last one back to the clearing where the massacre happened. At first they saw nothing, but then a crack of thunder lit up the cloudless predawn sky and the commanding officer fell backwards into the snow with a clean bullet hole through his snow goggles. The rest of the men scattered and took cover behind trees and other bits of foliage. Yet the sniper claimed a second man with a shot to the chest as a red flower blossomed on his white uniform. The heavy gunners responded by lighting up the treeline where the shots had come from, joined shortly by semi automatic fire from the rest of the squad. Bullets tore through the forest and shredded much of the canopy of leaves on the opposite side of the clearing.

“Cease fire!” a commanding voice shouted from behind the squad as a man in heavy metal armor strode confidently into view. “You fools are just wasting ammo. Quinn! Come on out! You can’t hide from me!”

The response came shortly with a bullet into the head of one of the soldiers that had peaked out, causing the rest of them to shrink back into cover.

“Fine. Have it your way.” The metal clad warrior reached behind him and grabbed a nozzle attached to a hose extending from his backpack and flipped a switch. A jet of white blue substance flowed from the device, instantly melting the snow into water and then into vapor along its path to the treeline. 

The first tree it hit exploded into flaming shards of wood and instantly ignited the woods around it. The torrent lasted several seconds as the metal clad warrior moved it back and forth igniting more and more of the forest. As the burning trees began to fall and the thick smoke of a forest fire choked out any possible sightlines a figure could be seen walking calmly towards the Mantle forces. 

“See, now that wasn't so hard was it,” the metal man sounded like he was smiling under his helmet, “open fire.

With the well timed efficiency of professional killers, the squad let loose a hailstorm of bullets that accompanied the next burst of flame. All of it broke against the circular shield of light that appeared in front of the figure and was answered by a single bullet in return that glanced off the metal man’s pauldron. The armor was more than capable of taking a hit but the force of the impact knocked the man off balance somewhat and he let go of the trigger. His men also stopped firing when the torrent ended, awaiting his orders. 

“Why you little-” he took a step forward only to be stopped by a female voice from behind him that could best be described as predatory. 

“Now now,” she purred as she came into view from behind him, “let’s not blow your top shall we? There's no reason we can’t settle this like civilised people yes?”

Despite towering over the white catsuit clad woman the metal man bowed his head to her, “As you say ma’am.” 

“Now what say you?" she addressed the figure still stood behind his shield, "My men will stand down and we can talk about where your little friend is.”


End file.
